New York Mets news: Marte traded to Arizona, Whalen is back and more!

New York Mets interested in trading for Starling Marte.
Sep 9, 2019; San Francisco, CA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Starling Marte (6) runs towards home against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets are officially out of the running for center fielder Starling Marte. The Pittsburgh Pirates traded him to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a pair of 19-year old prospects.

Here are the rest of today’s news and links about the New York Mets:

CBS Sports: Starling Marte, one of the New York Mets’ top trade targets this offseason, is no longer an option. The Arizona Diamondbacks traded for him yesterday, according to CBS Sports.

The snakes got their man in exchange for right-hander Brennan Malone and shortstop Liover Peguero. Neither of them are considered top 100 prospects, but they are not too far behind.

Malone was the 33rd pick of last year’s draft, while Peguero is only 19 and has a slash line of .299/.354/.428 across parts of two lower-level seasons. His quick bat gives him plenty of offensive potential.

The Mets, at one point, were very interested in the star center fielder. However, they didn’t want to give up Brandon Nimmo and they didn’t have a very deep farm system.

Rob Whalen: The Mets signed right-handed pitcher Rob Whalen to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. The player himself made the announcement through his Twitter account.

The hurler was announcing his retirement almost a year ago. He was battling depression and anxiety and those were his reasons. He will turn 26 this week and still has time to turn his career around.

Whalen was a Mets’ draftee. Here’s hoping he can have a great year and enjoy playing baseball.

MLB.com: The league’s official page previewed the 30 projected starting rotations in baseball. The exercise was forecasting the five rotation members if the season started today.

Anthony DiComo, the Mets’ beat writer, had it easy with the first three slots. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman are going to be the top three hurlers. As the fourth starter, he penciled Rick Porcello, with Steven Matz as the fifth and Michael Wacha out of the picture.

“The most significant question facing the Mets this spring will be who fills out the back end of their rotation. Rick Porcello seems likely, given the $10 million guarantee on his contract, and Steven Matz appears to deserve the other spot on merit. But the Mets gave Michael Wacha a contract laden with games-started incentives and will give him a chance to compete in Spring Training. If everyone is healthy, this won’t be an easy decision,” DiComo wrote.